This site requires JavaScript for certain features to work, but this
is not enabled on your browser. If you are unable to use JavaScript
on your browser, you can place your order by contacting our
Customer Sales and Support Centre by free phone on 0800 1 88884 or
by email at
customersupport@waitrose.co.uk

Add Note

Beef Consommè

Beef bones are essential for the rich, homemade stock that forms the basis of consommé, so this recipe is an ideal way to make use of the bones left over from a large roast rib of beef. "Egg white transforms the cloudy stock into a clear consommé," explains Simon Young, executive chef of London's Rib Room and Oyster Bar. "The egg white acts like a magnet, attracting the impurities and leaving you with a clear, intensely flavoured broth." Serve the consommé as a delicate starter, simply adorned by finely julienned vegetables.

Preparation time:
60 minutes

Cooking time:
5 hours, including stock

Total time:6 hours, including stock

Serves:
4 as a starter

Ingredients

Consommé

1 carrot, roughly chopped

1 onion, roughly chopped

400g lean beef mince

1 leek, roughly chopped

1 stem celery, roughly chopped

1 clove garlic

1 sprig fresh thyme

1 egg white

150ml dry sherry

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Stock

About 1kg beef bones, from a roast, roughly chopped with a cleaver

25g butter

1 carrot, roughly chopped

1 onion, roughly chopped

1 sprig fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

10 black peppercorns

2 litres water

1 leek, roughly chopped

Method

Start with the stock. Preheat the oven to 190°C, gas mark 5. Roast the bones for about 20 minutes, until well browned.

Heat the butter in a large pan over a medium heat. Add the vegetables and fry gently for 15 minutes until golden brown. Add the thyme, bay leaf, peppercorns, bones and water. Bring to the boil, skimming off any scum. Cover and simmer for 4 hours. Strain through a colander, then a sieve lined with muslin. Taste and, if it seems weak, return to the pan and boil, uncovered, to reduce, until the flavour is good. Cool and skim off any fat.

For the consommé, blitz the mince, vegetables, garlic, thyme and egg white to a paste in a food processor. Do this in batches.

Put the stock in a large pan with the sherry. Add the mince mix and heat gently, stirring, until just boiling. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 1 hour. A thick foam will form. Remove from the heat, scoop off the foam. Strain the consommé through muslin. Season and serve.